Impacts of forest gaps on butterfly diversity in a Bornean peat-swamp forest

Forest degradation is leading to widespread negative impacts on biodiversity in South-east Asia. Tropical peat-swamp forests are one South-east Asian habitat in which insect communities, and the impacts of forest degradation on them, are poorly understood. To address this information deficit, we investigated the impacts of forest gaps on fruit-feeding butterflies in the Sabangau peat-swamp forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Fruit-baited traps were used to monitor butterflies for 3 months during the 2009 dry season. A network of 34 traps (n_gap = 17, n_shade = 17) was assembled in a grid covering a 35 ha area. A total of 445 capture events were recorded, comprising 384 individuals from 8 species and 2 additional species complexes classified to genera. On an inter-site scale, canopy traps captured higher species richness than understory traps; however, understory traps captured higher diversity within each site. Species richness was positively correlated with percent canopy cover and comparisons of diversity indices support these findings. Coupled with results demonstrating morphological differences in thorax volume and forewing length between species caught in closed-canopy traps vs. those in gaps, this indicates that forest degradation has a profound effect on butterfly communities in this habitat, with more generalist species being favored in disturbed conditions. Further studies are necessary to better understand the influences of macro-habitat quality and seasonal variations on butterfly diversity and community composition in South-east Asian peat-swamp forests.